To Uphold The Scriptural And Confessional Qualifications For The Office Of The Holy Ministry

TO UPHOLD THE SCRIPTURAL AND CONFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF THE HOLY MINISTRY

RESOLUTION 6-02

Reports R62, R64 (CW, pp. 235–261, 268–289)

WHEREAS, The Office of the Holy Ministry is located within God’s plan and work of salvation in Jesus Christ Matt. 28:18–20, Mark 16:15–16, Luke 24:44–49, John 20:21–23). For this reason we confess Augsburg Confession, Article V, because (quia) it is “a true exposition of Holy Scriptures” (LSB Agenda, p. 166), “To obtain such faith [i.e. justifying faith, AC IV] God instituted the office of preaching [Predigtamt], giving the gospel and sacraments” (AC V.1, German, Kolb-Wengert (KW) edition). See the paper “The Office of the Holy Ministry,” which “represents a consensus” of the “systematics departments of both LCMS seminaries” (CTQ 70 (2006): 97–111); and

WHEREAS, The Office of the Holy Ministry was instituted and mandated by Jesus Christ to save sinners by “giving the gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel” (AC V 1–2, German, KW). God instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry, or preaching office, for this very purpose, that sinners obtain saving faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:14–17). We confess that this office has “the command of God and magnificent promises” (Rom 1:16, Ap XIII.11); and

WHEREAS, Jesus Christ has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to His church immediately. Thus the teaching of our church, “It is to the true church of believers and saints that Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven. . .” [C. F. W. Walther, The Church and the Office of the Holy Ministry, Thesis 4 concerning the Church, (Thesis 6 concerning the Office), p. 36 of 2012 edition, adopted in 1852 and reaffirmed with 2001 Res. 7–17A]. Jesus says in Matt. 18:18–20, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them;” so also, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9); and

WHEREAS, God has also instituted and mandated the Office of the Holy Ministry as his gift to the church through which the saving Word of God and the holy Sacraments are to be publicly distributed and the keys are to be used publicly on behalf of the church (Eph 4:8, 11; AC XIV; Walther on the Office, Theses 3 and 5). Thus Christ says to His apostles, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is 1 withheld” (John 20:21– 23; Matt. 16:18–19); and

WHEREAS, In keeping with God’s own mandate for filling the Office of the Holy Ministry, we confess in Augsburg Confession Article XIV, “Concerning church government it is taught that no one should publicly teach, preach, or administer the sacraments without a proper [public] call” (KW, German), as the Scripture says, “And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:15); and

(1) Examination: The Scriptures mandate that the candidate for the holy ministry be personally and theologically qualified for the office (1 Tim 3:1–7; 2 Tim 2:24–26; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Pet 5:1–4). The personal qualifications include that the candidate be a biological male (Gen. 1:26; Matt. 19:4), above reproach, and the husband of only one wife. The theological qualifications especially include the requirement that he be “able to teach” (2 Tim. 2:24), that is, that “he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9), along with competence to perform all the tasks mandated to the office. See the Small Catechism, Table of Duties, 2. To this end the faculties of our seminaries have been called to teach the Scriptures and the Confessions to the pastoral candidates and to form their minds and hearts and skills to the pastoral task. The faculties of the seminaries are also called to examine the confession and life of each of the candidates for the office, along with the Colloquy Committee in the cases reserved for it (Bylaw 3.10.2). By this examination the Synod assures itself of the confessional commitment and the personal and theological fitness of its candidates for call and ordination.

(2) Call: God himself calls a man into the office of the holy ministry through the church, whose right to call and ordain ministers stems from her possession of the keys, on account of Christ’s institution. By the ministerial call (or sending, John 20:21, Rom. 10:15), Christ, through the church, bestows His own authority and power upon the one who is called, as we confess in the Apology, “They represent the person of Christ on account of the call of the church and do not represent their own persons, as Christ himself testifies (Luke 10:16), ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me.’ When they offer the Word of Christ or the sacraments, they offer them in the stead and place of Christ” (Ap VII/VIII.28, KW). The call of the church is not only the call of Christ into the office, but also indicates the consent of the church in receiving the ministry of the one called (Acts 6:1–6; Walther, Thesis 6 concerning the Office). The divine call is always to a designated location and field of service. We especially defend the right of the local congregation to call her own pastor.

(3) Ordination: The rite of ordination, the laying on of hands, is an ancient and laudable practice in the church, but not commanded by God. But when ordination is understood as the whole church’s confirmation of the call, it is an inherent component of trans-congregational (transparochial) church fellowship and a part of the “proper call” confessed in AC XIV. So we confess, “Finally [the church’s right to call and ordain ministers] is also confirmed by Peter’s declaration (1 Peter 2:9): ‘You are a . . . royal priesthood.’ These words apply to the true church, which, since it alone possesses the priesthood, certainly has the right of choosing and ordaining ministers. . . . Ordination was nothing other than such confirmation of the candidate by the laying on of hands” (Tr 69–70, KW). The church has the right to put her ministers in place, and ordination guarantees that right. We also confess in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, “But if ordination is understood with reference to the ministry of the Word, we have no objection to calling ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has the command of God and has magnificent promises like Rom. 1[:16]: the gospel ‘is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.’ . . . For the church has the mandate to appoint ministers, which ought to please us greatly because we know that God approves this ministry and is present in it” (Ap XIII.11, 12, KW). Again, from the Treatise, “For wherever the church exists, there also is the right to administer the gospel. Therefore, it is necessary for the church to retain the right to call, choose, and ordain ministers” (Tr 67, KW). C. F. W. Walther writes in his Pastoral Theology (p. 44), “Neither the examination which one who has been called to the preaching office passes before an appointed commission outside of the calling congregation, nor the ordination which he receives from the appointed persons outside of the congregation, are what make the call valid. But both procedures are among the most beneficial ordinances of the church and have – especially the latter – among other things the important purpose of publicly confirming that the call is recognized by the whole church as legitimate and divine. Anyone who unnecessarily omits one or the other is acting schismatically and making it known that he is one of those whom congregations with itching ears heap up for themselves 1 (2 Tim. 4:3).”

and

WHEREAS, Society is challenging the church to conform to the shifting definitions of marriage (no-fault divorce, same sex marriage, etc.) and sex (transgenderism, surgical modifications, etc.), putting pressure on applications of the qualifications for the holy ministry; and

WHEREAS, Within the Synod many are debating issues surrounding the Office of the Holy Ministry, including preparation, fitness, examination and certification, and the necessity of call and ordination to “publicly teach, preach or administer the sacraments” (AC XIV; see e.g. 2013 Res. 4-06A on licensed lay deacons); and

WHEREAS, The office assigned to the seminary faculties is complementary to that assigned to the visitors of the church (i.e. district presidents).The seminary faculties present the candidates to the church for call and ordination, while the district presidents ordain and install them into office on behalf of the church. The district presidents (as ecclesial visitors) provide for the care and maintenance of the work done by the seminaries by encouraging and strengthening the pastors under their charge with the Word of God (Acts 15:1–35), continuing to examine their doctrine, practice and life, and by testifying to the church of the faithfulness of each pastor’s confession and life; and

WHEREAS God calls pastors to love and care for his people, to minister to them with compassion and understanding, and as the church asks her pastors to promise in the Rite of Ordination, “Will you faithfully instruct both young and old in the articles of Christian doctrine, will you forgive the sins of all those who repent, and will you promise never to divulge the sins confessed to you? Will you minister faithfully to the sick and dying, and will you demonstrate to the Church a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel? Will you admonish and encourage the people to a lively confidence in Christ and in holy living?” (LSB Agenda, p. 166); therefore be it

Resolved, That the seminaries in consultation with the Council of Presidents review their admissions and certification standards to ensure that all those admitted to or certified through any of the routes to the Office of the Holy Ministry conform to the personal qualifications outlined in Holy Scriptures (1 Tim. 3:1–7, 2 Tim. 2:24–26, Titus 1:5–9), including that they be a biological male (Gen. 1:26; Matt. 19:4; Acts 1:21, 1 Tim. 3:2), the husband of only one wife if married (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:6; see also Ap XXIII); and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod in convention uphold these scriptural and confessional qualifications of the holy ministry by directing the seminaries and district presidents to ensure that, 1) the candidate for office be examined by a seminary faculty or the colloquy committee to certify his fitness in life, doctrine, and confessional commitment; 2) he be called by the church to a particular field of service in the public teaching of God’s Word and administration of the holy sacraments; and 3) he be ordained into this office by the appropriate district president or his representative according to the order of the church; and be it further

Resolved, That where a man does the work of the holy ministry (AC V), he have a “proper public call” by examination and certification, call, and ordination; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod receive this resolution in the spirit of Friedrich Wyneken (2nd LCMS President): “This office is not about concealing from the so-called laity its sovereignty, patronizing it, and defining ever more narrowly the boundaries within which it may move. It does not clip its rights, limit its heart, close its lips, [or] reduce it to timidity that it remain nice-looking and subject and not dare in any way to impinge upon the sovereignty of the educated and well-reasoned pastor. In short, the office does not consist in suppression of the laity in order to elevate the clergy at the laity’s expense. . . The dignity, the desire, and the joy of the true co-worker of God is to draw ever more his community of believers into their freedom and its worthy use, to encourage them and lead them ever more in the exercise of their rights, to show them how to exercise their duties that they be more and more convinced of their high calling and that they demonstrate that they are ever more worthy of that calling” (Friedrich Wyneken, At Home in the House of My Fathers, p. 366).

FCname

Seminaries

Resolution

6-02

Title

To Uphold The Scriptural And Confessional Qualifications For The Office Of The Holy Ministry

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EXPLANATION OF SCORING MECHANISM

The scores for each Resolution are an attempt to predict which resolutions are likely to attract the most attention at the upcoming convention.

SCORE RANGE: 1-5, where 1 = low and 5 = high

SCORING CATEGORIES
L = Likelihood of adoption. For example, Commendation Resolutions are usually easy to pass, so would score 5.
S = Strengthens Doctrine & Practice. Is the Resolution faithful to Scripture and our Confessions? Does it entrench them?
F = Strengthens Walking in Fellowship. Does the Resolution enhance Synodical values?
P = Synod Priority. What is the priority of the Resolution for the Synod, especially with reference to S&F above?
X = Executable. Does the Resolution have a realistic goal? Can it be achieved with measurable results?

SCORE
The final score is based on weightings (see below). A low score means the Resolution is likely a pro-forma matter. A high value means it is likely to be contested.